Shuurei no Ai
by Jetamors
Summary: A series of fics pairing Shuurei with various characters. Newest chapter: ShuureiJyuusan-hime
1. Tantan: The Prisoner

**Title: **The Prisoner  
**Pairing:** Shuurei/Tan-tan

"You are really _completely_ useless, aren't you?"

The person the guard was addressing turned over and opened one eye. "What's that?"

"You've done nothing but lie around since we captured you. It's been three days! Shouldn't you at least try to escape or get information or something?"

The prisoner closed his eye again. "Why? Shuurei will come rescue me eventually."

"If I were your wife, I'd leave you to rot in here," the guard muttered. "I told Miya-dono this plan wouldn't work."

"Ah, so he is the one behind all this."

"Shut up!"

"First you want me to talk, now you don't," Suou muttered. "Well, whatever, it's all the same to me."

Having nothing else to do, Suou watched his surroundings from beneath half-closed eyelids. The only source of light was a flickering torch, and the only movement was the slight fidgeting of the guard. When the guard suddenly crumpled and fell, it took him a few moments to realize what had happened.

"Seiran? Are you there?" he called out, rising to his feet.

"Yes," Seiran replied. "And ojou-san is right behind me."

The guard was slumped against the bars of the cell; Suou found the keys in one of her inner pockets, and unlocked the door. The poison had left her immobilized, but still conscious; she was breathing heavily and looked quite angry.

"Tan-tan!" a voice cried as he opened the door. A moment later, Shuurei stood in front of him. "They didn't hurt you too much, did they?"

"Not too much. And oh yeah, Miya-dono was the one behind it. The guard there can testify if you need her to."

"No!" The guard's eyes widened. "It—it wasn't Miya-dono at all! It was all me!"

Shuurei knelt before the guard. "You're Yun-san, right? I'm afraid we've already assembled a lot of proof against your boss. He was involved in far worse than he told you about."

She straightened and turned to Suou. "Were you able to get them?"

"The letter and the earrings? I have them right here." As he removed them from his tunic, Rei sputtered.

"YOU? All the time we've been searching, and _you_ had them the entire time?"

"He wasn't being watched as closely as the rest of us," Shuurei said. "And they were even safer after you kidnapped him. Now, Yun-san, I'm afraid I have to place you under arrest. Seiran, would you tie her up please? The poison may wear off soon."

"Of course, ojou-san."

Suou was still watching the guard, so he was a bit startled when Shuurei slipped her hand into his. "We just need to go to Miya-sama's house to make sure everything went smoothly there, and then we can go home." She smiled. "I'm glad you're safe, Suou."

Suou could feel himself flushing; he manfully ignored Seiran's snickering. "Well, uh, let's go then."

She was still exhausting, Suou thought as she pulled him along behind her. But really, that wasn't so bad.


	2. Kouyuu: Proposal

**Title: **Proposal  
**Pairing:** Shuurei/Kouyuu

"Well, um, I-I-I-" Kouyuu stuttered, cleared his throat, and started again.

"Um. Shuurei. I was wondering if—uh. This is. You. Um."

He sighed. "No, no, no. This is all wrong." How would she look at him, if he was this tongue-tied? He thought of Shuurei's bright eyes and quick mind. Her hands always moved with absolute competence, whether they were stirring a pot or writing a report.

It wasn't true that he disliked women, as Shuuei was always saying. But aside from his mother, Shuurei was the first woman he'd gotten to know well. Really, how could you know if you liked someone just by looking at them? Not that there was anything wrong with her looks at all…

Kouyuu realized that his thoughts had drifted considerably. "Idiot!" he said to himself, aloud. "Just tell her you want to marry her!"

"Kouyuu!" At that voice, Kouyuu froze. "Is this where you've been?"

The object of his affections stepped around the corner into the otherwise deserted hallway he'd been standing in. "Uh, Shuurei! Did—did you hear me just now?"

Shuurei blushed a little. "I wasn't going to say anything, but—about marriage, yes." She looked away. "It seems like everyone's getting married lately. Anyway, do you want to walk with me to the Civil Administration Department?"

Kouyuu had always found Shuurei easy to talk to, and despite his worries about courting her, he was able to speak with her without awkwardness as they walked toward his department. He was halfway through an anecdote about Heki's quixotic efforts to improve efficiency when they finally reached his door.

"I suppose if you're getting married you won't be coming to eat at my house anymore," Shuurei said. She started to turn away. "Even so, I suppose I'll still see you around."

"Shuurei, wait!" The words came out before he could stop them. "Will-will you marry me?"

Shuurei stared at him for a few moments, obviously shocked, while he mentally berated himself. He hadn't courted her at all. Hadn't sent her any letters or presents. Hadn't even shown a sign of interest before now.

And then, unbelievably, she smiled. "Yes."


	3. Jyuusanhime: The Beginning

**Title: **The Beginning  
**Pairing:** Shuurei/Jyuusan-hime

"I'm not going to make you choose between the country and the Ran family," Shuurei said. "Or between your family and me. This is the only way I can think of for everyone to have what's best for them. So, what do you think?"

Being a daughter of the Ran family, Jyuusan-hime had received many marriage proposals. This one, however, was easily the strangest.

"But we're two women, Shuurei," she said. "We could live together, but we can't formally…"

But as it turned out, it was indeed possible for two women (or two men) to marry in Saiunkoku. It was a rare ceremony, normally used to iron out the knottiest issues of land inheritance, but there was nothing actually saying that the Ran daughter and the Kou daughter couldn't wed.

They had to marry quickly, so her brothers wouldn't catch wind of it ahead of time. Between the secrecy and the preparations, Jyuusan-hime hardly saw Shuurei from the time she accepted her proposal until the ceremony itself. It was true that she had agreed to the marriage for the sake of her family and country. But already she found herself hoping that it would be something more. For the first time since Jin, she'd found someone she really _wanted_ to marry. And she wasn't sure whether Shuurei felt the same way.

After their wedding, when they were finally alone together in their carriage, they sat in silence for a time. Shuurei was looking down fixedly at her own hands, and so Jyuusan-hime looked at them as well. They were the smooth hands of a scholar, pale and slightly ink-stained. She looked at her own hands; they were coarser, of course, but not so different.

"You know," Shuurei said finally, "this doesn't have to be forever. After we do everything else we talked about, and the situation with your family calms down, we can get a divorce."

It wasn't what Jyuusan-hime had wanted to hear. "So you don't want to be married to me?"

Shuurei looked up, her eyes wide and her face red with embarrassment. "No, no, that's not what I meant at all!" she said, waving her hands. "I don't mind—I mean, I like it, I think. But I was worried that you might not—"

Jyuusan-hime couldn't help it; she started to chuckle, and after a little while Shuurei began to laugh as well. "I wouldn't have married you if I didn't want to," she said. "Let's make this marriage work."

And they did.


End file.
